Miscellaneous thoughts and discoveries on genealogy, family history and family photos.

Photo – St. Paul to Canada Road Rally, 1920s

Here’s a wonderful photo of my grandfather that really lends itself to studying it, and thinking about the time and place that it was taken. It’s a photo that was in my grandfather’s collection.

My grandfather was Ted (Edward Thomas) Sexton (1902-1980). Ted grew up in Bemidji, MN, one of twelve siblings. As a young man, he moved “down” to St. Paul to get a job as a printer. It was in St. Paul that he met my grandmother, Marie Wolters, whose family had a farm in West St. Paul.

I love studying this photo. There are so many things to notice, which can help tell the story of when and where it was taken. I also look forward to taking more time and learning even more.

To my knowledge, my grandfather never mentioned anything about this particular event. So all I have to go on is the photo itself. Ted is the boy on the far left, in the dark shirt. I don’t know anything about the other boys in the photo.

Clearly this was some sort of road rally that the boys went on, driving from St. Paul to Canada. One of the boys is clearly wearing a University of Minnesota sweater. (My grandfather did not attend the university).

I haven’t yet identified the type of car, but it seems likely to be a Model “T”, given the time period. If you look closely, you can see the number “23” on the license plate, under the letter “B”. You’ll see “MINN” down the right side of the plate, so this is clearly a car that was registered in Minnesota. And the date on the plate puts the picture at 1923, or at least within a year or two. If it was 1923, Grandpa would have been 21, which seems about right. You can also see a plate below the main one which reads “Bemidji”, where Ted was from. So perhaps these are friends of Ted’s from “back home” in Bemidji.

I’ve also thought a bit about when this photo may have been taken. If the boys participated in a road rally, we’d assume that they’d have their picture taken either at the start or at the end of the rally. It’s hard to say which one of these two this photo would have been, but I’d lean towards saying it was taken at the end. The boys and the car are located on some sort of wooden plank bridge over what looks to be a small stream. Given the rustic nature of the bridge (note the hewn log handrails), it seems more likely that it’s up North near the Canadian border, rather than down in St. Paul. Had the boys taken a picture at the start of the rally, they’d likely be in the city and we’d probably see other drivers and cars.

It’s hard to say much about the time of day. The shadow of the car appears to be directly under the car, so the photo appears to have been taken near midday. We can also think a little bit about how long the drive must have taken. The Model “T” had a top speed of about 45 mph, and the distance between St. Paul and the Canadian border is something like 300 miles. If they drove straight through, at 40 mph, it would have taken them 7.5 hrs. But given the state of the roads in the 1920s, they wouldn’t likely be near top speed much of the way. So it seems like it would have required more than a single day for the trip. If the trip started in the morning in St. Paul, it may well be that they completed the rally around midday on the next day. But it’s hard to say.

That’s a good start at thinking about the photo. I’d be eager to get more information and thoughts from other people. Some of the next things to look at are:

Talk to older relative to see if Ted ever mentioned this trip

Try to determine the exact make and model of the car

Find out if vehicle registration records for MN are kept anywhere

Look at newspapers of the time to see if they mention a road rally

Try to date the photo by getting more info on the University of MN letter sweater shown in the photo

Look through other photos of Ted’s to see if I can identify his friends

Take a look at maps of that time, to guess at possible routes/distances

5 Responses

Here’s some information on the make/model of the car from Erik Johnson in Mpls:

The automobile pictured is definitely NOT a Model T Ford. My father and I are antique automobile enthusiasts and we both own Model T Fords.

Regarding the “B” on the 1923 Minnesota license plate: in Minnesota, passenger cars that weighed less than 2,000 pounds (one ton) were issued “A” plates and passenger cars that weighed 2,000 pounds or more were issued “B” plates. Model T Fords weigh much less than 2,000 pounds and were issued “A” plates. As you wrote in your blog, the car in the photo has a “B” plate.

I am not an expert but I believe it is a 1920-1923 Dodge, based on the following:

– Location of headlight in relation to the front fender
– Contour of the fenders (pronounced hump running down the middle of the front and rear fenders)
– Rear spring configuration (you can see it sticking out, just left of the spare tire)
– Location of tail-light and license plate
– It appears to have a slant windshield (you can see part of the windshield frame at the right side of the photo) which indicates 1920 or later. If the windshield is straight up and down, then it would be 1919 or earlier
– The rectangular window in the rear curtain of the top would help pinpoint the year. Earlier Dodges had multiple panes in the rear curtain and I am not sure when they went from multiple panes to a single pane.

[…] friends on a road rally in northern Minnesota. I also posted the photo on my blog a while back, at Photo – St. Paul to Canada Road Rally, 1920s Sean on Family History Thanks! Sean Attached Thumbnails […]

I noticed door handles on the car. 1921 and earlier Dodge touring cars did not have exterior door handles. That would make the car a 1922 or 1923. I’m leaning toward 1922 because the photo was taken in 1923 as indicated by the license plate and the car does not look that fresh (although it could be just dirty from being on the road).

If I had the original photograph in my hand instead of looking at a scan on a computer screen, I could pull out much more detail with a magnifying glass. To really see details, proper technique is to hold the magnifying glass close to your eye and lean in close to the photograph in a well-lit area (the same way a jeweler uses a loupe to look at jewelry).